Door hanger



Nov. 25, 1952 M R SPENCE ETAL 2,618,808

DOOR HANGER Filed March 4, 1950 INVENTORS. M 1?. SPENCE, BY MQA. 1664mm,

, firroemsY- Patented Nov. 25, 1952 DOOR HANGER Murrcll. R. :Spence, North Hollywood, and Noah 0. A. Hayman, Alhambra, Calif.

Application March 4, 1950,Serial No. 147,674

3 Claims.

This invention relatesto sliding doors and has particular reference to improvements in -suspending devices for such doors.

One of the difficulties commonly encountered in-the use otsliding doors, particularly-in wooden doors mounted within wooden framing, is that thematerial of the-door or of the framing may warp thereby to cause the door to stick andso to render the opening and closing operations thereof difficult. Another-condition commonly encountered in-such wooden residential :sliding door constructionsi-s the difficulty-of relatively adjusting the door on-the suspensionmechanism as required for smooth andeasy operationof'the door. Another diflicultyin such residential sliding doors as commonly-used is that .it .is impossible to adjust the suspension mechanism after the door framing has been completely assembled and that forthisreason the door must be mounted in position and adjusted before the finished lumber is placed on the studding of the wall.

In view of the foregoing, it is'the-general object of the present invention-toprovide-a door hanger combination so constructedithat the door :may be adjusted vertically without removingits-from its track. It is a further object of the invention to provide .:a device in which the doo'rframe may be completely .finished before the door is hung and the position of the door correctly adjusted and readjusted at any time without having to tear down the finished door framing -or:remov- .ing the door. Another object is; to'aprovi'de a door supporting mechanism which, once correctly jadjusted, will afiordthe door sufficient freedom of movement relative to the supporting mechanism to insure easy and unhampered operation of the door.

These objects and the advantageous features of the invention will-be better understood from the followingdetailed description and :bynreferringto the accompanying drawings-in which :a preferred form of the invention is-illustrated. 'In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional, end elevational View of "a door framing constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrating the improved means ofmaintaining a doors'usp'ended within this "framing;

Fig. 2 is a substantially corresponding, .fra'g- .mentary view of one upper corner of i a door showingmembers ofthe suspension mechanism of the invention mounted in position thereon;

F-ig. 3 is aside elevational view of'the'upper portion of 1 the suspension mechanism shown in Fig. '2

.Fig. 4 is alreversed side view ofthe'lowerportionof the suspension mechanism of Fig. 2; and

.Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of vthe beam on which the-door is hung.

The framingof the door includes conventional side members or stiles I, .2, to the top of which aresecured headers l3, 4 in any ordinary wellknown manner. The adjacent upper corners of these headers .are .shown recessed to support therein track suspension members I, :8 which are shown sufficiently spaced apart to receive there-e hetweena channeled .beam Iii forming the track on .whichthe Jdoorrof the invention is mountedvto roll. .This beam is :bymeans of screws 1!, 12, shown "rigidly 'secured in position between the members "I, 8. .From the upperhorizontal flange 10 of the 'beam ill) may in addition he extruded lips l3 .whichiare:benthorizontally in theopposite directionto'rest on the member I, to-which these lips maybesecured by means of screws 14. When so constructed, it-isseen that the track may be held rigidlysupported on the members '1, 8, withoutany danger of saggingspreading .orotherwise'getting out of adjustment. When such lips are'provi'ded the screws 12 may .be omitted and the beam mounted .on the members :1, .8 .after the rough framing is completed.

It is customaryto provide a hangerattachedto the top surfaceof .thedoor near eachend of :this surface and such hanger is .in the drawings shown toinclude an'upperrbracketfll on which rollers 20 are rotatably secured and a ;lower :bracket 30. As illustrated, it .is preferred .to mount ;a pair of rollerslfl oneach 'bracket butit .isto be understood that a single roller :maylbe vsubstituted, if preferred. The lower portion :of

the :bracket 2! is, as best indicated in Fig. 11, shown upwardly'folded to providea groovei22 :of a size snugly I110 receive therein the downwardly bent flange 3| of the lower bracket 30,1which latter .is shown mounted .in :position on i the top surface of the door '32 as bymeans of screws 33. .It is :important to :note that: the lowenportion of the'brac'ketlzl isshown offset to bringztheseiin- .terenga'ging'portions ofthe brackets 21 anddit .directlyxbeneathitherollersll). The purpose of this method of suspending the'dooris 'to be-able tomount thedoor brackets 3!) Vin positionion the vdoor and then, Iafter th'e rollers have been' placed onstheiritrack to: seat 'therfianges 3 I in the-grooves :2 2. of;the upperzbrackets.

i Thelower bracket'utli: is for this: purpose shown made withLa series Jof equidistant perforations 35 in :the wall upwardly i extending :from the base thereof :and because the :bottom'iedge of thesflange 3| extends to a position in registration with the center line through these perforations, it becomes necessary to sink notches 36 into this bottom edge in axial alignment with the perforations. Similar notches are sunk into the bottom surface of the bracket 2| for registration with the perforations 35 when the bracket is hung on the bracket 2|, whereupon an element such as a pin, screw or cotter key 40 is inserted through one of these perforations for the purpose of locking the brackets against relative longitudinal displacement. It is important to note that the spacing between the notches 25 varies slightly from the spacing between the perforations of the bracket 30. This is done in order that one bracket may be adjusted longitudinally relative to the other in order to be correctly positioned on the supporting beam I0 and the element subsequently inserted to lock the part together, as will be more fully described presently. The parts are for this purpose shown provided with four groups of perforations and notches, but it is to be understood that additional notches may be provided for finer adjustment, if found desirable.

Another important feature of the invention is that the interengaging portions of the two brackets are not arranged in parallel relation to the track and the upper surface of the door but are shown somewhat inclined in one direction. This is done in order to enable the builder to mount the door in correct vertical relation to the floor and to the upper framing of the doorway. If, for example, it is found that the door hangs too close to the floor, it is merely required to remove the element 40 and to move the brackets 2| lengthwise relative to the bracket 30 until the proper elevation is obtained, whereupon the element may be reinserted through the notches and perforations corresponding to this position of adjustment. The angle of inclination of the parts should, of course, be calculated to provide any desired amount of adjustment. Referring now to Fig. 3, it is noticed that the upper edge 26 of the lip 23 is shown somewhat upwardly curved toward the center thereof. This is done in order that, when the door has been completely adjusted as above described, the door bracket 30 may retain some freedom of rocking movement on the curved surface 26. It has been found in actual practice that, when so mounted, the operation of opening and closing the door will be greatly facilitated.

It was above stated that the door of the present invention may be mounted in position and adjusted after the door framing has been assembled. In practice, the door framing generally includes stops 42 and 43 mounted on the stiles l, 2 of the framing and horizontally disposed stops 44, attached to the headers 3, 4 thereof.

It is common practice and it is preferable to mount one of these horizontal stops as, for example, stop 44 permanently in position and to fasten the stop 45 on the header by means of suitable screws 46 in order that, if due to warping it should be found that the door commences to stick, it will be possible slightly to adjust the position of the stop 45. The stops 43 are often similarly mounted for the same reason. By reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it is readily seen that, when the stop 45 is removed from the framing, it is possible to hang the door by placing the flange 3| within the groove 22 of the bracket 2| and to insert the element 40 after these suspending members have been relatively adjusted whereupon the stop 45 may be put back in position. It is also to be noted that it is possible in the same manner to readjust the door mounting at any later time to vary the distance of the bottom of the door from the floor, as when carpets and rugs are to be laid on the floor; also that the door may be removed and remounted at any time as may be required for repairs or replacement by merely detaching the stop 45.

While we have herein described a preferred form of the invention it is to be understood that modifications may be embodied which fall within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

We claim:

1. A door hanger for supporting a door within a frame having a channeled beam mounted therein, said door hanger including a lower bracket having a base mountable on top of the door and a wall rising from said base, the upper end of said wall being folded to form a pendent flange parallel with the wall, the upper surface of the bracket being inclined, there being in the wall a series of equidistantly spaced perforations parallel with the upper surface thereof and notches sunk into the lower edge of said flange in axial alinement with said perforations to form therewith transverse passages through the bracket, an upper bracket having a groove at the bottom thereof of a size slidably to receive therein the flange of the lower bracket, rollers on said upper bracket adapted for riding in said beam, there being a series of similar notches sunk into the bottom surface of the upper bracket coplanar with the passages through the lower bracket but differently spaced apart, and a key insertable through any one of said passages and any one of said notches brought into axial alinement therewith.

2. A door hanger for supporting a door within a frame having a channeled beam mounted therein, said door hanger including a lower bracket having a base mountable on top of the door and a wall rising from said base, the upper end of said wall being folded to form a pendent flange parallel with the wall, the upper surface of the bracket being inclined, there being in the wall a series of equidistantly spaced perforations parallel with the upper surface thereof and notches sunk into the lower edge of said flange in axial alinement with said perforations to form therewith transverse passages through the bracket, an upper bracket having a groove at the bottom thereof of a size slidably to receive therein the flange of the lower bracket, rollers on said upper bracket adapted for riding in said beam, there being a series of similar notches sunk into the bottom surface of the upper bracket coplanar with the passages through the lower bracket but differently spaced apart, the lower portion of the hanger being offset to position the interengaging portions of the two brackets directly below the rollers, and a key insertable through any one of said passages and any one of saitd notches brought into axial alinement therewi h.

3. A door hanger for supporting a door within a frame having a channeled beam mounted therein, said door hanger including an upper bracket, rollers on said bracket adapted to ride on said beam, the lower end of the bracket being bent to form an inclined bottom wall having a flange rising therefrom, the upper edge of said flange being correspondingly inclined and somewhat upwardly curved from both ends toward the center thereof, there being a series of notches sunk into the bottom surface of the bracket, a lower bracket adapted to be mounted on and to rise from the top of a door, the upper end of said lower bracket being bent to form a flat top wall and a flange downwardly extending therefrom, the top wall being inclined to ride on the top edge of upper bracket flange, there being in the lower bracket a series of perforations coplanar with the notches of the upper bracket but differently spaced apart and notches sunk into the lower edge of the lower bracket flange in axial alinement with said. perforations, the lower portion of the upper bracket being offset to position the interengaging portions of the two brackets directly below the rollers, and a key insertable through any one of said lower bracket passages and anyone of said upper bracket notches.

MURRELL R. SPENCE.

NOAH O. A. HAYMAN.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

